Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Protea

Well, they did say that this winter would be a long, hard one, and how right they were! We must have had about three and a half months of it already and it is getting way beyond monotonous. I woke up this morning to find an overcast sky and everywhere covered in a freshly fallen blanket of snow. People had been so busy clearing their driveways and yesterday the snow was beginning to melt a little. Today, they start all over again. And, of course, we know that this is going to happen many more times yet before spring arrives : ) Into the archives I just had to go, finding something with colour, something tropical : ) This was a huge Protea flower that I bought from my grocery store back on 18 April 2011. Such amazing flowers! "Protea /ˈproʊtiːə/ is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of South African flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: suikerbos). The genus Protea was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will, because proteas have such a wide variety of forms. The Proteaceae family to which proteas belong is an ancient one. Its ancestors grew in Gondwana, 300 million years ago. Proteaceae is divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that are now part of eastern Asia. Africa shares only one genus with Madagascar, whereas South America and Australia share many common genera — this indicates they separated from Africa before they separated from each other." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protea

They always say that Ladybugs bring you luck - so this one is for good friend, Doug (dougwaylett on Flickr), whom I have known the last few years through botany (wildflowers, also fungi) and, several years ago, birding. He collapsed yesterday and was in the Trauma Unit. Later, he was moved to Intensive Care. I have not yet heard any further update today (it's 10:30 a.m.). Hoping you had a restful, uneventful night, Doug - everyone's thoughts are with you, and with Flo (Doug's wife). Found this tiny Two-spotted Ladybug (Adalia bipunctata) in my house the other day and photographed it on the fluffy centre of a large Protea flower that has been in my kitchen for two or three weeks, waiting to be photographed. Now it has lost all its colour and has dried out, but at least gave me a different kind of image here : ) The Two-spotted Ladybug is smaller than the more common Seven-spotted Ladybug and is one of our native Ladybugs. "Adalia bipunctata, commonly known as the two-spot ladybird, two-spotted ladybug or two-spotted lady beetle, is a carnivorous beetle of the family Coccinellidae that is found throughout the holarctic region. It is very common in western and central Europe and North America. It is used as a biological control agent ..... The most familiar form of the two-spot ladybird beetle is the red one with the two black spots. However, there also exists a black form with red spots on it. In addition, there are intermediate forms, but they occur only rarely in nature." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adalia_bipunctata UPDATE ON DOUG: it is with tremendous sadness that I have to let people know that Doug passed away. Apparently, he had just given a talk on Slime Molds in the herbarium at the U of C yesterday and was looking at some lichens, when he had a massive heart attack. Flo, I am so, so sorry.

Not sure exactly what these are called, but this second shot shows which part of the Protea flower they are : )

OK, so I searched high and low in my house for something "English" that I could use to make a photo to celebrate the Royal Wedding of William and Kate today. Nothing, absolutely nothing, despite the fact that I spent the first 22 years of my life in England! With an enormous stretch of the imagination, I think this gorgeous and unusual Protea flower looks a little bit like a crown : ))) Aren't they spectacular flowers? The Proteaceae family to which proteas belong is an ancient one. Its ancestors grew in Gondwanaland, 300 million years ago. This particular species of Protea is called the Nodding Pincushion Protea. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protea I changed my mind late last night and decided to stay up and watch the Royal Wedding on TV after all. Somehow, it just isn't the same to watch a repeat later. Got an hour's sleep before getting up at 4:00 a.m.. I thought it was a beautiful occasion (they were blessed with sunshine, too!) and Kate's wedding dress was fairly simple and elegant, and perfect for her. A delightful occasion - the endless crowds of excited and happy onlookers showed how much they love their Royal family .... but now, let the media coverage stop, please!

I have been waiting the last few days for the sun to come out enough to give enough light inside my place. I missed the bit of sun this morning and then it was windy and snowing and grey this afternoon. So, I ended up having to photograph this gorgeous Protea flower in low light in my kitchen - needed to hurry, as it is not in as good condition as it was when I bought it a few days ago (from Safeway, of course). Not as sharp as I would have liked : ) Windchill is -18C this evening!!! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and so I wanted a pink flower to upload for this. I won't give out a reminder to everyone to get regular checkups, as I am the world's worst for making medical appointments, and I should practice what I preach : ). October is also, according to my Canadian calendar, Child Abuse Awareness Month, which has been an interest of mine for many, many years. We seem to have an epidemic of both!